9.05.2011

Minny is the brains behind Monty's Goods. She creates amazing vintage inspired Man Bow Ties, Lady Bow Ties and Peter Pan collars. Each bow tie is made with love... she spends hours single-handedly sewing each bow tie & collar with her own hands. They are adjustable (up to 18" neck size) and self-tie so it's minimal hassle. Minny also offers a bespoke service. Bow ties and collars are such a big hit and are all over the magazines...so check her website out now!

8.28.2011

Wonderhill High Market is a market which is aimed at selling UK Handmade Artisan Craft, Sustainable and vintage things. It happens once a month and lots of creative peeps sell their handmade goodies at the event

Minny and I rocked up to this months event to try and sell some of our handmade treasures. To be honest, there wasn't much footfall at this event so I didn't sell that much but I did sell some stuff which feels great! Here's some photos of me and Mins...

I will be setting up my online shop soon so will be selling my jewellery there! Watch this space...

8.24.2011

I'm going to be doing something super exciting (well for me anyways) with Minny at the end of Sept. We're going to sell our stuff in a market stall! Woop. I'm going to dedicate my next post to Minny and the wonders she makes.

8.18.2011

BB creams are new to the UK but have been around for sometime now especially in Asia. My mum says that everything in Hong Kong is BB lol. I'm sure many of you have read about the new Garnier BB cream and maybe even tried it? There's 2 shade available, Light and Medium. So whats the big deal we ask?

I've used this for 1 week to get a better idea of it before reviewing it.

In my honest opinion, it's not amazing. I found it to be just like a tinted moisturiser. I don't really have spots and stuff (touch wood) so it's hard to say whether it does a good job covering those up but really DON'T expect it to cover up as well as foundation (of course). It's alright if you are looking for an everyday look thats quick and easy to put on. I'm not sure if you can see from the photos, the coverage does look better in real life.I did find that the product had a pinkish tone to it, I've got chinese skin so my skin colour is slightly yellow so it's not the perfect match.

Quick tip: don't put too much on! It's quite a thin product and spreads easily. Putting too much on will make your face will look really oily - definitely dust on a bit of powder to set it.

Will I recommend it?

This product did not blow me away. For £9.99 I can think of a better product I could buy (in fact I will do a review on my foundation which I LOVE... and it's highstreet). Though I have to say I think this BB cream is better than my MAC face and body foundation as that is far too thin for any coverage whereas this does give a better all round complexion. I guess you would have to really try to see for yourself, I think it will work differently on different skin tones and textures.

8.11.2011

I received a lovely present for my birthday... it was a voucher for Stylistpick! If you don't know about it already, it's basically a personal shoe stylist website where they ask you some questions about your style icons etc. then they present you with a selection of shoes, bags and now jewellery in a 'showroom' for you. This is a monthly subscription of £39.95 including delivery.

Here's what I picked out for my present...

~It's wrapped beautifully~

I chose a pair of brogues because I hardly ever wear high heels as much as I love the look & thought of them. So with these, I can wear it to work and right through Winter as well.

StylistPick really thought about their customers because it was wrapped like a luxury brand and there's the small details like the polaroid sticket, thank you card and even put in a little gift - a bracelet!

Sign up and get it for 25% off in August! You can always cancel the subscription if you want.

8.10.2011

This is the only playsuit I own. I've got big hips & a rather large bamsi so everytime I try them on, I just think it makes me look like an elephant. This one fits really well as it doesn't go up my backside. I love them but they're so not practical when you go to the toilet, you're literally starkers!

8.08.2011

Had a bit of a shopping spree recently... I never shop like this (especially as I'm trying to save as much dosh as I can at the moment). But I really need some new work clothes so thought it was about time to hit Forever 21 to see what they've got to offer.

The damage...

Forever 21 Haul...

Superdrug haul...

And I picked up a few mags aswell to top it off!

I'll do a post on the clothes and also a post on reviews of the Superdrug goodies (apart from the cotton pads... don't think you need a review on this)! So watch this space...

8.03.2011

I did it. I broke my iphone a few weeks back and Apple couldn't fix it. Yup. All contact details were lost, all 1000+ photos gone, old messages... zip. ziltch. nada. kaput. vaminos. I only saved a few photos and of course iphone doesn't allow any information to be stored on the sim. Cut long story short, my contract was coming to an end anyways so it was time to get a new phone.

After umming and aahhing for a while, I decided to LEAVE the iphone club(?!). Yup. I am now no longer part of the iphone clan and all that jazz that comes with it.

Instead, I've now got myself a new Samsung Galaxy S2... Ta Da!

I was really scared to come out of my 'comfort zone' as I do love the iphone. However, despite how 'great' the iphone is, there's lots of things that I don't like or that really bug me about it so thought it was time to venture out and try something new. Plus I didn't want to feel like SHEEP anymore!

The SGS2 is sooooooo good! It's so much more technologically advanced than the iphone. It's SUPER LIGHT and there's so much more personalisation, there's cool widgets, you can just about do anything like I even used it to work out something in Excel (crazy sh*t). The camera is 8 megapixel... what more do you want? OHHH... I've also been watching films on my phone during my commute - love! I've also bought a really nice purple (photo isn't great - it was taken using the iphone).

The only downside is the battery life but other than that, I'm sooooo glad that I'm not just following the Apple craze. What I hate about the iphone is that, it's actually not that great because it's miles behind everyone else yet everyone loves it (bet if iphone allowed software like Excel on it or an 8mgp camera on it, people would be like "Oh my god. That's like the coolest thing ever" even though it's been out for donkey's ears). 8/10 people have an iphone on the tube and it feels nice not to be just another iphone user.

7.19.2011

Summer... hmm. Not quite here in the UK (is it ever??). After that brief spell of hot weather we had in April - 3 months ago I might add - we've had bits of sunshine but not a rise in mercury. As it's grey and dull outside I wanted to brighten things up and do a blog spot about my favourite summer nail varnishes. Here's the spectrum of colours...

After I painted my nails I realised I should have done them the other way round because I started on my pinky first *doh*! So I've reversed the images to show it better - hopefully.

7.18.2011

It's been almost a week since I started my'healthy eating regime'. I have decide that I'm not going to call it a dietanymore. I absolutely hate the word and makes me feel uncomfortable.

So what went down?

I've been following what the book has been saying (though to exactly what it says).

Breakfast: Strawberries & a peach or 2.

Snacks: Non.

Lunch: Salad & Protein.

Dinner:Protein & cooked veg OR Protein & Salad.

My lunch today... rabbit food.

It's been quite tough because I'm a snacker and there are moments (everyday I have to add) when I crave so badly a packet of crisps or eat some biscuits or something. This is especially so during the afternoon lull - that quarter past 3 afternoon tea time.

I'm not going to lie but I've cheated a little... the first couple of days, I had a naughty twix *slaps hand*. But I felt hungry and needed something to keep me going for the rest of the afternoon. But apart from that... no carbs! Also, Saturday night it was pouring with rain and my bf and I didn't want to brave the supermarket in the storm so ordered pizza *shakes head*. But...

Results so far??

I've actually lost 2.5kg in 6 days - awesome! I wonder if I would've lost more weight if I didn't cheat at all?

7.09.2011

I've been meaning to lose some weight and tone up for ages. It is the summer after all and girls (and guys) are even more image conscious since we're trying to cram ourselves into skimpy tops and having to bare those legs of ours.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not fat by any means but I just need to get back into shape (and into my old clothes)! Ideally, I'd like to lose 7kg/ 3/4 of a stone/ 15 pounds. This does seem far fetched especially as I'm making small efforts to eat healthy and still craving/consuming naughty foods - yup - those cheeky carbs and sinful snacks.

I was recommended a diet recently by a wonderful friend of mine. She went on this diet along with her bf and they've experience great results in a short period of time - bonus! So I decided to jump on the bandwagon and try this thing out. It says it's a 'simple' way to lose weight. The approach basically imitates the lifestyle of our ancestors - ice age and all that - where they eat more but move little. It say's that you can:

Shed pounds in a matter of weeks.

Say goodbye to enless exercise.

Beat diabetes and prevent heart disease

Look younger and prevent premature ageing

Increase your sex drive (?!)

YES - I think I'm onto a winner here! BUT

Then menu looks a bit... difficult. It goes against the grain on common diet plans of eating less but more often. This, I'd have to eat 3 square meals a day. Snacking is aloud inbetween. However, from looking at the plans, it really does cut out ALL carbs, grains, dairy, non-foods (goodies basically), and also missing out the occasional meal (because our ace-age ancestors did this often when there was no food available).

SO

What food do I get to eat? Lots of seafood (like LOTS), vegetables, fruit, meat, and lots of water. Meat, veg and fruit I can deal with. Problem is I love seafood but things like Salmon is expensive (espeically the amount suggested on a weekly basis) and no carbs. I mean... NO CARBS? What the hell am I going to do?

It's going to be really tough but then again, as I don't need to lose weight extremely quickly I will be slightly lenient (i.e. going for a meal with friends and having the occasional snack). I think it's important to stay healthy and all tha jazz but I'd like to live a bit as well - I know this sounds so contradicting even as I type this.

I'm starting this 'diet' tomorrow... so I'll be cramming by last bits of carb & naughtiness beforehand hah! We'll see how I get on and I will do a weekly update and review on this diet.

6.20.2011

So I thought I'd write about something that I've read in the newspapers that's been bugging me recently. Just need to get this off my chest.

.GET LONDON READING.

The Evening Standard have been running with a campaign on getting London to read. I've not read everything that they've printed. But from what I've read, the basic jist of it is that the literacy levels in London are extremely low with stats like 1 in 4 children who leave primary schools cannot read and that 1 in 3 children do not own a book at home. Also, they ran the story with the little girl Aurella and how she's never had a book & the only book she had is an Argos catalogue!?! All I have to say is...

ERRRRR... WTH??

And this is what I have to say about it - I believe reading ability is very much dependent on 2 main factors (obviously there are lots of different things that are contributing factors) -

1) Teachers - children go to school to learn. That's what school is about right?? Teachers are being paid good money to teach kids especially basic things like reading. I do not blame the teachers as such because my flatmate is a primary school teacher & she does a very good job. But if it's certain areas in London that are really problematic, then surely issues right at the heart should be addressed first and foremost. If reading is a big issue, have more of a reading structure in place! Simple as.

2) PARENTS - so teachers do their job, but parents also need to pull their weight too. The least they could do is to provide some books at home. I know that there are alot of people who have come from abroad so many the parents are not so hot on reading the English language HOWEVER they could at least buy the damn thing. With that girl Aurella, she didn't have 1 single book but an argos catalogue?! WTF is that about? Then the mum is the only 1 to blame. Surely she can afford to buy 1 book for her... if not, then there are things in the country called libraries where you can borrow books for freeeeeee.

I just don't relaly get this campaign and just think certain issues should be addressed before they start extending their hands and getting people to 'donate' towards volunteers.

6.12.2011

I wanted to dedicate this post to 2 of my friends that got married recently...

~ Emily & Harry ~

My dear friend Emily got married on 15th May. Ems and I go way back and met when we were 13 or something when we were in the same through secondary school. I'm so grateful to have a friend like Ems and I'm so glad that we're still friends after so many years. Emily & Harry had a beautiful wedding and I'm so so happy for them. I sound like a hopeless romantic... but It's must be such an amazing feeling to exchange vows with the person you love ♥

Shaun & Tricia got married on 5th June. We all met first year of uni together which I can't believe was almost 8 years ago since 2003! Shaun & Tricia had a baby girl, Erin, a few months before the wedding & it was so special as they included Erin in the wedding. They had a chinese traditional banquet. They had amazing pre-wedding photos & video taken around London and during the banquet they had the photoshoot & video clips shown on a screen - sooo sweet!

So there we have it! I wish them all the very best for the future~

Love Tx

P.S. So my detox did not go to plan. I fell ill with a stomach bug the next day for a week so had to stop it! I may try it again in a month or so though.